From Dusk Till Dawn
by UncleSmegma
Summary: One morning, a fateful encounter with a strange woman will change David's life. This is currently ongoing. Chapter Six up whenever I write a version I'm actually happy with.
1. Chapter 1

I began my day the same way that most other people start theirs; I woke up. Of course, what I woke up to was quite different than what I was expecting, or what anyone else would expect either. Most people begun their day with significant other, breakfast in bed, or maybe even a Meowth incessantly mewing for some food. What they don't wake up to, is a naked woman rummaging through their clothes. Normally, I wouldn't complain about something like that, but when I went to bed the night before, my house was lacking in nude women.

Needless to say, I was more than surprised to find her there. Having just woken up, my first response was to simply make a noise of surprise. "You're awake earlier than usual." She didn't even turn to face me as she spoke, continuing to rifle through my clothes and hold them up as if she was wondering if she should wear some. "You have very interesting taste in clothing."

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, looking around for something to defend myself with in case she decided to attack me. "Why are you in my house?"

"Well it's certainly not because of your snoring." She put on one of my shirts. The black T-shirt came mid-way down her thighs. That shirt was a gift from my mother, who had a bad habit of getting strange clothing like a t shirt that was too long for me. "Ampharos let me in."

I couldn't help but sigh at that. My Ampharos just couldn't do anything but be friendly. I always said he was more like to help you carry my television out the front door than stop you from breaking in to steal it. While he was useless for battling, he still did a damn fine job cleaning up when I'm at work. So for Ampharos to let her inside wasn't much of an issue, I'd have to talk to him about who you shouldn't answer the door for. If anything, I'm more concerned as to why this woman wants to come into my house and steal my clothes in the first place! "What do you want from me?"

The woman thought for a moment, crossing her arms. She had a tanned, olive skin, with jet black hair. I couldn't really tell from here, but her eyes seemed a little yellow with a slight glowing aura coming from there. "Well, I can't really live in your bushes anymore, now can I?"

"Excuse me? The only thing living in my bushes is an Umbreon who would not appreciate your company." I retorted. That Umbreon had lived there for some time now, long enough I began making a meal for it every once in a while. We more or less had a deal; keep away all the Pokémon I don't want around the house in exchange for cooked meals.

She scoffed. "Of course she would appreciate me, I'm her."

At this point I began to think that I was dreaming. Did this woman seriously think that she was the Umbreon living in the front of my house? That's just insane, Pokémon don't become humans, humans don't become Pokémon. She has to be crazy or on something. "Listen, I don't know that, but if you don't get out of my home, I'm calling the police." I threatened her, reaching for the phone on my nightstand.

"Sitrus Berry!" She shouted desperately as my hand hovered about the phone. "I gave you a Sitrus Berry when you were upset."

I thought about what she meant until I realized what she was talking about. I was dating a girl for a few years before I found out from my friend Mike that she was cheating on me. That night I sat on my front step thinking about everything. My mind was in utter turmoil and I wasn't sure what to do or think. After an hour I felt a nudge on my foot. Up until then Umbreon and I kept our distance, letting each other do our own thing. Now, however, here it was dropping a Sitrus Berry at my feet before retreating back into the bushes to watch me. Out of respect I tried to eat the berry. While it tasted like I was eating a lemon, I felt surprisingly refreshed afterwards. An interesting thing is that there aren't too many Sitrus berries in my neighborhood, they're quite rare in fact. This Umbreon had gone out of its way to bring me the best gift it could think of to cheer me up. I was grateful to say the least.

I never really told anyone about it, so there would be little chance she would know about it unless she actually was the Umbreon. "Okay, let's say you are the Umbreon, why are you a human?"

"I don't know."

"Brilliant. Why are you in my house, then?"

"I told you, Ampharos let me in."

I sighed. "No, why are you in my house? Why not find a homeless shelter."

She took a moment to process the question and her answer. "Well, you were the closest place I could think to go. Humans don't like it when they don't wear clothes, either."

I wasn't sure how to really take what she just said. If she understands why humans wear clothes, then why wouldn't she also understand the concept of breaking and entering? Was she confident enough that I would let her stay here while she figured out what happened? A million more questions raced through my mind, it was a lot to take in this early in morning. "I can't deal with this right now, I need some coffee."

I got out of bed and made my way to kitchen. Thankfully, Ampharos shut the door again after letting the human Umbreon inside. At least I could rely on the little yellow pacifist to do that right. My guess is he's hiding in the bathroom, he knows he made a mistake, I guess I'll have to talk to him later. Umbreon fooled me down the stairs and watched as I made my morning coffee, analyzing my every move. When the pot of coffee was done, I sat at the kitchen table to take my time and drink the coffee. Yes, I drink my coffee black, it's easier than screwing around with sugar and cream.

I mulled over what I knew so far while I silently drank my coffee. Something must have happened last night to this Umbreon. I remember her being in the bushes when I got home from work last night, so this is very recent. My guess is that she doesn't know either, and she came to me because I'm the oldest thing she has to a friend. While flattered, this may get even stranger if I don't start teaching her to be human. I looked over at her and watched as she tried to groom herself, licking her hand and running it through her hair. I really hope I don't have to show her how a shower works. "So do you know anything about why you're a human now?" I asked, still nursing my coffee.

"No, I woke up and I was human." She thought for a moment. "I don't remember falling asleep either."

That was odd. Last I remember, Umbreon are nocturnal; she wouldn't be asleep at night. "Do you think that someone or something did this to you?"

"I don't know."

"Well what do you plan to do about this?"

"Be human I guess." She went back to grooming herself. She seemed to be upset that it wasn't as effective as she hoped it would be.

"Well you can start by getting acquainted with the shower."

What followed was a waste of my Saturday teaching Umbreon how to be a human. Everything from bathing to using a fork was discussed, along with her quips about how superfluous many of these activities seemed. She did not seem to enjoy her predicament, but at least she was smart to know it's better not to fight it. Instead, she decided to fight me over it. In fact, there were moments where she intentionally pushed my buttons to amuse herself. Like when she kept dropping my fucking glass cups on the floor to see me get mad. Luckily, Ampharos was there to ease most of our tension. While I was still upset with him for letting strangers into the house, at least he knew how to make me smile.

However, there was only so much that I could take by myself. I needed back up, and I needed it now. I called up my friends, Mike and Cassie, and agreed to meet them tonight. I didn't tell them the whole situation, only that I was bringing a person I wanted them to meet. If I told them the full story, they'd think I was crazy. I'd rather save this for face to face so they knew I was serious.

Meanwhile, I decided to introduce her to wonderful foods that she just can't experience as a Pokémon. I decided upon chocolate, but only a small dose; there's no way in hell that I'm going to deal with her having a sugar rush. She was hesitant at first, but quickly realized it wouldn't kill her and fell in love. Hopefully, I could use this to bribe her to stop getting on my nerves.


	2. Chapter 2

At this point, I feel like I should let you know a little more about my friends. I've known Mike ever since we were little kids. He's a buff dude, but in a lovable sort of way. In a way, he's like a big teddy bear. He's a bit gullible at times, but he's an all around good person who's looked out for me whenever I was down. I couldn't ask for a better friend, he's the brother I never had. Cassie, on the other hand, was more of a spitfire. She was always there to light a fire under my ass and get me moving. She wanted to see me get ahead and she was not afraid to push me towards it. I appreciate her blunt honesty, it's helped me at times when I really needed it, and even stopped me from making a fool of myself at times.

Cassie and her husband Jose own their own restaurant, Corner Slice. Mike and I like to meet her there before closeting for some free food and to just enjoy each other's company. Tonight, however, they were curious about the new girl I brought with me. They were fairly quiet while I explained who she was and why I was bringing her here. They were silent for some time before Cassie broke the silence. "You know, Dave," She said, shaking her head, "could it kill you to meet a normal girl?"

Umbreon raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Don't get me wrong," Cassie explained, "she's got a pretty convincing story. However, do you really expect me to believe this stuff? If anything I'm starting to wonder if there's something in your tap water to come up with this crap."

"I can prove it." Umbreon bristled, clearly offended. "I can still understand what other Pokémon say."

Mike sighed. "Okay, I'll bite, ask my Raichu something." Mike pulled out a Pokéball and released his Raichu.

Umbreon, to her credit, managed to hold some sort of conversation with it, of course I could only understand what she was saying and not Raichu. She thank it and then looked to Mike. "He said that if I want you believe me," she said, "then I should tell you that some nights Mike will wear a woman's dress and sing-"

"Okay!" Mike interrupted, his face awash with red. "That's a good place to stop, I believe you!"

Cassie's face practically lit up. "Micheal! You never told me! I knew I should have telex you to look at wedding dresses!"

Mike scowled Raichu as he returned him to his Pokéball. "Okay, cool, can we talk about the human Umbreon please?"

"Yeah," I agreed, despite really wanting to rib Mike about the dress revelation, "we need to figure out something to do here."

Cassie shrugged. "Like what? I don't think there's much we can do."

"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing." I said.

"Pokémon don't turn into humans for no reason." Mike explained, taking the words out of my mouth. I knew he'd have my back. "There's obviously something weird going on."

"I fell asleep and I was an Umbreon. I woke up in front of David's home and I was human." She scratched an itch on her neck. "I'm not clueless so I knew I'd need clothes and I had his Ampharos let me in."

"That Ampharos is the worst security system ever!" Cassie laughed. She didn't like Ampharos that much. She thought he was a poor Pokémon partner. Of course, I didn't think that her smug Heracross was much better.

"Well it certainly benefitted me." Umbreon wasn't laughing. "I'd rather not run into your police."

"So you decide to break into Dave's house and wear his clothes, got it." Cassie shook her head and looked to me. "I take it you didn't even get her underwear?"

"Do I look like I have women's underwear laying around my home?" I asked.

Cassie continued to shake her head in feigned disappointment. "You poor thing." She said to Umbreon. "Come on, let's teach you the finer points of being a lady." She grabbed Umbreon's hand and led her away. Tentatively, Umbreon followed, she really didn't like being pulled around so much. Cassie and Jose live above the restaurant, so my guess she was going to give her some underwear or something.

Once they were gone, Mike leaned in to talk to me. "So, you like her?" He asked.

"I mean, if I didn't know she was a Pokémon I'd say she pretty cute."

"Dude, you know what I mean by like. I see the way you look at her."

"We were sort of friends when she was still a Pokémon, so of course id think more of her than a stranger. But I don't think I'd actually consider anything more."

"What if she likes you?"

"I don't think she likes me like that."

Mike shook his head. "Dave, she could have gone anywhere, she could have done anything-"

"But she came to me for help." I finished his thought. True, the idea had crossed my mind, but I wrote it off. The concept seemed to foreign for me to entertain the thought too much.

"She seems like a good girl, don't hurt her man."

"You know a lot about how girls think, huh?"

"Fuck you Dave."

"Hey, no fucking anybody, I just cleaned the tables." Jose came from cleaning the kitchen, drying his hands with a rag. He was a shorter guy, but still wide shouldered. He had stubble on his face and he spoke with an accent. "Do you two ever do anything normal?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Well you show up with a magic Pokémon, and he dances around like my sister on her quinceañera."

"I didn't exactly choose to have an Umbreon show up on my home."

"Women do that." Jose tossed the rag onto his shoulder and crossed his arms. "She seems to know you well enough, help her be human."

"How am I gonna do that?"

"Take her out." Mike suggested. "She needs clothes, you need a girlfriend."

"Hold up the there ese, he doesn't need to go that far. Just treat her like you treat Cas."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Now," Jose turned his attention to our food, "are you going to eat or should I take your food?"

After a short time, Cassie came back with Umbreon, who was newly ordained with clothes that were more obviously made for a woman to wear. She certainly seemed uncomfortable about it however, no doubt it would take some time for her to get use to tighter clothing. She tugged at what I'm guess was a bra loaned to her by Cassie. "You'll get use to it sweetheart." She slapped Umbreon's back.

Umbreon gave her a scowl. "Can I take this ridiculous thing off now."

"I admire your attitude but save it for when you're home." Cassie and Umbreon sat back at our table. "So what have you ladies been talking about."

"Getting our nails done." I said. Mike glared at me as Cassie laughed.

Mike changed the subject. "So what should we call her?" He asked.

"I'm Umbreon" she said, deadpan.

"That sucks and it's boring." Cassie said. "How about Kristen?" No response.

"Yuri?" I suggested.

Cassie and Mike just stared at me. "We need to talk about you and your anime." Cassie said. It isn't that weird to watch anime, is it?

"How about Brianna?" Mike said. Umbreon actually seemed to like that one. We all agreed with her, preferring it over saying Umbreon all the time. It made it easier to forget that she was a Pokémon at heart. "Cool, can I call you Bri then?"

"No." She nibbled on a french fry.


	3. Chapter 3

Figuring out where Brianna was going to sleep wasn't easy. Sleeping indoors was a luxury for her, and she was really soaking it in. While she was incredibly interested in finally seeing what the fuss was about with humans and our beds, I wasn't inclined to share mine with her. It took quite a lot of convincing, more than I wanted to do so late at night, but I finally talked her into sleeping on the couch. I offered her a blanket and gave Ampharos the job of making sure she was comfortable. He was also under strict orders to not let anyone into the house again.

As they worked to get her settled, I laid down on my bed upstairs and tried to wrap my brain around everything. It was quite apparent that Brianna was in fact the Umbreon that lived in the bushes in front of my house, but that was the not the most difficult thing to understand. The ultimate question in my head was how it happened. Just as importantly, I wanted to know why it happened as well. Of course, I severely doubt that I would learn anything that I wanted to know, but it would help to keep an eye out for clues. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to take a closer look around my front yard for anything that would give me a hint towards what happened. Until then, I opted to close my eyes, and finally get some sleep.

As I slept I began dreaming. A beautiful rainbow rope descended from my ceiling and tied itself into a noose. I reached out to it and yanked, but instead of it coming down it tightened around my hand and pulled my up. I found myself miles above the floor, unable to really see how far down it was. And that, was when the rope let go.

I woke up to the smoke alarm in my kitchen going off. "What the fuck is going on?" I shouted, racing downstairs in my boxers. Standing by my oven, with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar, was Brianna and Ampharos burning whatever it was they were trying to cook. Apparently, Brianna had grown tired of her new clothing and opted to wear the clothes she had taken from me the day before. Ampharos has a huge orange stain in his belly. Smoke was rising from the oven as whatever they tried to cook burned to a crisp while my smoke alarm wailed like a banshee. All I could muster was "What the shit?"

They both pointed at each other in an attempt to appear innocent. "It was his idea he assured me he could cook." Ampharos attempted to say something similar, but I couldn't understand him. "Shut up, you're lying!" Was Brianna's defense.

I ignored them and went for the stove, trapping the handle of the pan and bringing it to the sink and tossing it in. I turned on the faucet and the cold water almost instantly vaporized and hot steam hit my face. I turned away from the scalding steam to face the wannabe chefs, my face hot and red now. "What were you two trying to do?" I asked, trying to stay calm.

"I was hungry," Brianna explained, "and Ampharos started that he knew how to cook and that-" Ampharos interrupted and they began arguing again. As they bickered, I sat on the floor, my back against the sink, and buried my face in my hands. This was going to be a very long day.

After we got breakfast sorted out, I decided I would take a look around my yard for evidence of Brianna's mysterious transformation. I began in the bushes where she slept as an Umbreon. There was nothing too out of the ordinary, except for her nest of course. There was a blue blanket that looks like she found, or stole, it to use as a makeshift bed. I pulled it out to give to her after my search. Wrapped inside it was some dried leaves and sticks for bedding. She definitely had a good deal going on my yard. Curiously, there was a strange stone in her nest area as well. It was translucent with a rainbow color scheme, all straight lines. More importantly, it wasn't painted. I decided this was interesting enough to warrant further investigation.

I brought the rock and the blanket inside, satisfied with my investigation. Brianna was almost immediately happy to see her blanket. "There you are!" She wrapped it in her arms and cuddled it. She even breathed in its scent. "Just like home." She muttered.

I held out the rainbow rock. "I found this too."

"I've never seen it before." She went back to cuddling her blanket.

"It was in your nest."

"That doesn't mean it's mine or I know what it is."

I sighed, this was going nowhere. I decided I was going to have to bring it to someone with a tad more knowledge in geology. Unfortunately I don't think there are many people with the necessary skill set I need. I figured I'll try the pawn shop by the mall first and then turn to the internet. "Put your clothes on, we're going out."

The local shopping mall was not very large based on most malls I've seen. It had your usual mall stores with a movie theater, but it only had one floor and no food court. If you were hungry you were going to have to go to one of the local restaurants or fast food joints. Figuring I was going to have to get the most difficult chore out of the way first, I decided I to take Brianna clothes shopping first. What followed was nearly three hours of pure hell. Once she found something she somewhat liked, she'd then try on three separate sizes of each. She tended to favor the baggier and less restrictive shirts and pants. I'll spare the details of trying to get her to try on different underwear; I suffered so you don't have to.

I wasn't exactly sure if this pawn shop would be able to help me. On TV, they always seemed to know what they were talking about, but this shop does not have a television show. I was skeptical of the assistance I was going to get, but it was better than nothing. I decided I'd bring Brianna with me, on the instruction that she not break anything. As I had assumed, the pawn shop owner didn't know anything about the rock. It was interesting enough that he said that he could have a friend of his look at it and let me know. I responded by asking him how much it was going to cost. He simply smiled at me.

After paying him for his service and leaving some contact info behind, I took Brianna home. It was a busy day for her and she was getting hungry again. Driving back, I noticed someone following us. I tested the theory by taking some random turns and watching as the trailed us at first before they broke off. However, I noticed they were parked nearby my house when I got home. I couldn't see anyone inside the car, but it was certainly strange. I made a point to Ampharos to keep an eye on them and not least them into the house.

"It's too bad I have your useless senses," Brianna lamented, "I could probably let you know if they had any bad intentions if I git close enough to them."

"Yeah, no." I was quite firm with her. "Stay away from them. I don't like the vibe they're giving me. That just screams to me 'break his kneecaps for the girl.'"

"I can probably still put up a fight."

"You're not a Pokémon anymore, if someone or something cuts you, you're going to bleed."

Brianna simply laughed. "I knew that you were weak, but I didn't think humans were that weak!"

I grabbed a thumbtack from a drawer and pricked my finger. A drop of blood formed and showed her. "This is what you do now." I held her hand and pricked her fingertip as well. Brianna jumped back and held her hand, watching as the drop of blood formed on her finger as well. "This is what we all do. You need to understand that you're not a Pokémon anymore. You can get seriously hurt doing things that you use to do. I'm surprised you didn't burn yourself this morning."

Brianna's face was one of pure shock. She sat on the couch, dumbfounded. I had just shattered her world, her perception of humanity and herself. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words didn't come out. She looked at her hands, opening and closing them in awe. I was starting to think that the gravity of her situation was starting to set in, the idea that this wasn't just a temporary thing and that she may well be stuck like this forever. It was just starting to dawn on her that she was a completely different species now, and there may be no turning back. She tried to speak again, her words fizzling away as they tried to pass her lips. "I'm human." Was all she was able to muster.

I sat next to her and held her in comfort. Human arms around may not be what she wanted, but she needed something. "It's okay, we'll figure this out." I cooed, stroking her hair.

"I'm human." She sobbed, tears streaming down her face. I may not understand her plight, but I do understand when someone needs a hug. We were there for some time, eventually falling asleep on the couch. We needed it.


	4. Chapter 4

I was a bit worried about leaving Brianna home alone while I went to work on Monday. The previous night had made certainly frightened me about her safety and my own. Whoever those people are, they certainly meant business. I made a point to take the long way to work. However, AI wasn't worried for my own safety; it was Brianna I was worried about. Her demeanor had certainly changed after her night of crying on my couch, and I had a lot of concern as to wether she would ever cheer up. She was still sulking on the couch when I left, and I was worried that she still be there by the time I got home. Of course, she wasn't really alone. Ampharos would do his best to take care of her, and hopefully not burn the house down cooking lunch.

I spent the work day with my mind on Brianna and her predicament. Who wounded have this sort of thing on their mind? The sheer absurdity of it all was more than apparent, and that rainbow rock had to have something to do with it. I couldn't help but think of what exactly the rock is, or if it could do it again. As much as I wanted to see if it could change Brianna back, I wasn't exactly sure what would happen if I did. More importantly, I'm not sure what she would think. It may have been a very painful experience, so much so that her mind repressed it. Or maybe the two weren't related and I'm connecting the wrong dots.

It's also entirely possible that Brianna really is some batshit crazy woman using me for free housing. If anything is a possibility, that one is higher than psycho rock conspiracies. If that's the case, then why was I putting up with any of this? It was within my purview to kick her ass to the curb and leave her to her own devices. Despite cutting a large amount of recent stress out of my life, it wouldn't exactly help me sleep at night. I couldn't just abandon her to the streets, especially when she didn't understand human culture that well. Besides, our friendship goes back to before she was a human. I looked out for her even when she was just an Umbreon living in my bushes. She came to me because she knew she could trust me, and she was right. I see no issue in taking care of her. She's my friend, and I'd expect her to do the same if our roles were reversed.

Coming home from work, I expected to find her still on the couch. To my surprise, she had actually moved to a new position. Ampharos was waiting for me and pointed me towards my room. Curious, why was she in there? I found her curled up with her blanket at the foot of my bed. She was awake, but silent. With a sigh, I sat on the bed by her feet. I looked down at her and thought over my next words carefully. Clearly, she was still upset, and I didn't want to make things worse. I thought of what I could do or say, and realized I knew nothing about her really beyond her being an Umbreon. What would I say to not piss her off? It was like having an upset girlfriend all over again. If that's the case, I might as well try to fix the problem the same way, because I have such good fucking experience with that!

"Hey, I was thinking we could head out tonight." No response, go figure. "Maybe go somewhere nice and watch the sunset, get some dinner after."

The similarity between this and a date is not lost on me. Of course, it's all I could think of to take a girl I knew next than nothing about. All I know about her is that she was an Umbreon that lived in my bushes that liked my cooking. So behind her horrible taste in food, I knew nothing about her. Maybe while we were out we could talk and get to know each other. Anything was better than letting this half naked woman sulk on my bed all day. Speaking of which, why did she move to, my bedroom? I'll admit, my bed wasn't much comfier than my couch; which means I either have a good couch or a bad mattress. Was it because she thought that beds were a human place to sleep? I'd have to make a point to ask her later when she was feeling better. "Come on, lets go!" I insisted, shaking her. "It'll be fun! Just the two of us out on the town!"

The silence was deafening. "Alright, well, I'm going to get in the shower. Let me know what you want to do after."

Disheartened, I grabbed some clothes and made my way to the bathroom. Maybe in the shower I'd have some more time to think about everything. Hell, maybe I'd come up with a better plan than taking her in a walk like she was a pet or something. Brianna, of course, had other plans for me. While I was in the shower, the curtain slid open and she was standing there, with the same sad look on her face. "Fucking hell!" Was all I could say as she simply sat on the floor of the shower and returned to pouting. At least she had learned enough to take her clothes off before the shower.

For a minute, I was about as confused as I was scared. What the hell was she doing? Then it dawned on me; she didn't want to be alone. She was scared of everything that had happened, and she was clinging to what was really the closest thing she had to a friend or family. That would explain why she was in my bed as well. As touched as I was to be her crutch, I'd really have preferred she wait until I was out if the shower. I wasn't sure what to do but just look at her as the shower water ran down over both of us. With a sigh, I sat down with her and awkwardly put an arm around her. A shower isn't exactly the best place to have a moment like this, after all.

Eventually, we got out of the shower, dressed, and left the house. I took Ampharos with us, he loved watching the sunset, and locked up. Somehow I felt my home was safer now with him outside with us. With plenty of daylight to burn, we walked to the nearest hiking trail to find a good spot. Of course, most of the walk was simply to reach the hiking trail in the first place. The sun was getting lower in the sky once we reached the trail, but I've hiked it enough times to know it can be done in about an hour. Brianna didn't say a word the whole time, and remained silent until we finally reached the lookout to watch the sunset. We sat on a rickety park bench set up to watch the sunset in the distance. It was almost perfect in a way. The sun fledged off the clouds, painting the sky with hues of pink and orange, accompanied with splashes of red. As we watched in silence, Brianna finally spoke. "Is this fun?"

I chose my words carefully. "It's more about the moment. Anyone can watch the sunset, it's about what you're doing and who you're with that makes it fun and memorable."

"Is this sunset memorable then?" She looked to me, the empty look she had fading away.

"I think this is a special enough moment, yeah."

Brianna smiled. It started wholesome and happy, then turned into something else. "Cassandra was right, you are a pussy."

Just like that, Brianna was back to her old self. Eventually, we dropped Ampharos back off at home and I drove Brianna and myself out to a restaurant as promised. I chose a place where I was less like to have an awkward run in with my friends, which coincidentally didn't have cheap beer on tap. A little pricier than I was use to, man I miss free food from Jose and Cassie, the atmosphere was nice enough. The menu was a litany of strange words for Brianna, so I was forced to order order for her. Man I really wish she could read. All things aside, I took this moment to get to know her. She had quite a lot of interesting stories to tell. Hearing about Pokémon moves and battles from the personal experience of an actual Pokémon was fascinating to me. Crunch might be mundane and boring to her, but to bite something with greater force than a normal Bite while trying not to get roasted by some asshole kids Charmeleon is an alien concept to me. I could tell she was enjoying talking about it as well, simply for my reactions. She almost enjoyed how enameled I was with her everyday life as she was with mine.

The drive home was a quiet one, but not in a bad way. We were simply tired, having enjoyed our night. No doubt we were going to fall asleep the minute we got back. Brianna was the first to speak up when we got home. "That was fun."

"It was."

"Can we do this again?"

"Maybe not every night," I'm not made of money, "but we can do it again soon."

She actually looked a tad upset we couldn't go out again tomorrow. We were both silent for a moment, then we got out of the car. Heading inside, she let me know she didn't want to sleep alone again. Of course, that meant she wanted to sleep in my bed. At this point, my body was screaming me. Well, various parts of me were anyway. I had followed just about every step of dating 101, even down to the mildly flirty compliments. No she was trying to sleep in the same bed as me. Next thing I knew we'd end up connected at the waist. Oddly enough, I wasn't opposed to it either. However, I still didn't think it would be right to take advantage of her considering she still doesn't understand humans.

We laid in bed, each of us back to back. It was just as awkward as I imagined it would be. For me anyway, she seemed fine with it. I think she was happy to not be alone. "I was just thinking," she broke the silence again, "why are we wearing clothes?"

What the fuck. Is she doing this on purpose? "Why do you ask?" It should be of note we were more or less in underwear bottoms and a T-shirts.

"It's not like we have to hide anything from each other." She said that so matter of factly. Little does she know, I do in fact have something to hide from her. If I have things my way, it'll stay hidden from her too. I don't need boners getting in the way of our oddly close relationship.


	5. Chapter 5

Sometimes, life has a way of reminding you that there's more important things to be doing. Like a late payment reminder for your car insurance or a nagging boss at work who just wants those TPS reports. No matter what you're doing or state of mind that you're in, life will be there to tap on your shoulder. My reminder, just so happened to come before work in the form of yet another suspicious looking SUV in front of my home. I hadn't noticed them until I was already on my way out, and two men quickly hopped out to stop me. "Excuse me, sir," one of them said, "we'd like to ask you a couple of questions."

As much as I wanted to haul ass out of there, they looked like they meant business. Despite wearing well pressed black with rainbow color ties, you could tell that underneath the clothes that these two men were ripped as hell. I'd bet they could arm wrestle a Machoke and probably win. I was essentially trapped. "What seems to be the issue?" I asked, trying to play it cool.

"We have reason to believe that you are in possession of a certain piece of our employers property." The tall man spoke, his mustache dancing on his lips.

"We'd very much like it back, with promise of a sizable reward." The short, bald man followed almost immediately, as if this was something they do regularly. The implication was worrisome.

"What might this piece of property be?" I asked.

"Would we be able to enter your home?" Baldy asked. "To look around for it?"

Fuck no, and fuck off. "Well what are you looking for?"

Mustache man spoke up. "A small rock-"

"Rainbow, at least this big?" They nodded. "I took it to the pawn shop to see what it was worth. Maybe you should check them out. I get out of work later if you want to come back." Wait, no, don't come back. Never come back!

"That's alright, we won't return unless they don't have our employer's property." In unison they turned and left, and I watched as they drove off to find the rock.

As soon as I was sure they were gone, I ran inside to find Brianna. "We need to get you the fuck out of here." I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her out to the car.

"What are you doing?" She demanded. I quickly explained the situation to her and she seemed to understand. I also made a point to bring Ampharos as well, just in case. I decided to bring them to Corner Slice to stay with Jose and Cassie for the day. Cassie was not happy I was dumping Brianna and Ampharos off on her, but she put up with it if it meant keeping them safe. She'd find something for them to do, and maybe even give Brianna some cash to spend on who knows what.

After work, I returned home first. While no one was currently waiting for me, someone was there while I was gone. The lock on the front door must have been picked, since no one had broken it down. The rest of the house was not shown the same finesse. Drawers and closets were ripped apart, seat cushions strewn around the floor. Even my refrigerator was torn apart, food tossed on the ground in a mad search for something. I'd be cleaning this up all day, maybe more. The whole scene was disturbing to say the least. With a dejected look, I grabbed Brianna's blanket and called the police. The whole house was labeled a crime scene and they asked that I stay somewhere over night while they looked around. They didn't seem to care about the weirdos in the suits so I didn't want to stay and get angry as they stumbled about like buffoons. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the police and supporting them, but this was feigned ignorance. They were being difficult on purpose, and that was the scariest thing of all. Who the hell is this employer, and what does he want from me?

I finally made it back to Corner Slice as they were closing. Ampharos was outside with a sign, spinning it around to draw people inside. You had to hand it to Cassie, she knew how to find anyone's natural talent. Cassie was inside, with Jose, closing the restaurant. Immediately upon seeing me she ran up to me and slapped me across the face. "Who the actual fuck have you gotten yourself into!?" She screamed at me.

"I don't know, Cassie." I pleaded.

"Oh don't give me that load of bullshit." Cassie was steaming mad, her face was red with anger. "First, I find out that you're taking her out in dates and sleeping with her. Then, you dump her on me so two screws in suits can come in and threaten me in my own fucking restaurant?"

"What are you talking about?" While the two men were certainly aggressive looking, they didn't really try to threaten me. "They didn't threaten me."

"They told me that if I didn't give them the Umbreon then the girl won't be the only thing getting hot." Cassie took a moment and sighed as she tried to gain so,e sort of composure. "Dave, these guys mean business. Is she really that important to you that you need to keep her from them?"

"If they're willing to stake out my home for three days, threaten my friends, and threaten me; then yes, I guess it is important. Besides, I didn't exactly have a choice."

"You could have said no and kicked her out of your home." There was a coldness to her voice. "You still can."

"You'd have dome the same thing if you were in my position."

"I'd have put the safety of my friends and family before some random stranger, David!"

Cassie had a point, but I feel like she may be missing something important. "Something tells me that this isn't the first time this has happened."

"What the fuck does that mean, and why should I give a shit?"

"It means that we may well be further into something big than anyone else ever has before."

"Yeah, and I'm sure it'll only get worse, if you want to go galavanting along on some grand adventure like the kids you wanted to be like, go ahead. But please don't bring us into it."

"Cassie, you always tell me to grow a spine and make a difference. Well, here I am and you're telling me it's a bad idea. Something bad is happening, I can feel it."

"This is going to get someone killed, and I don't want it to be me." Cassie looked at me with tears in her eyes. "I know you want to help her, and I do too. But people much more powerful than you or I are involved and we can't fight them." Cassie went upstairs without even a goodnight. Or a goodbye.

"I believe in you." Jose said, cleaning the grill. "So does she, just give her time, she'll come around." Good ole Jose, he always had my back.

"I'm not sure where to go from here."

"Seems like all the answers will come to you." Jose stretches his shoulders then returned to scraping the grill. "You can stay here and wait for them. We're closed tomorrow anyway."

"Why not just head back home and stay there?"

Jose laughed. "Whose going to protect you, Ampharos?" Then we both laughed.

Brianna tentatively came down the stairs. She knew that something bad had happened between me and Cassie as she was almost afraid to look at me. I sat her down at a table with her to discuss her day. Apparently, she didn't understand that sleeping with some one meant two different things. Cassie was pissed at her and told Brianna to just "stay the fuck upstairs and out of my fucking sight." I was worried about Cassie more so than Brianna. She was right and I knew it. Brianna was going to lead to trouble for both myself, and anyone close to me. The men who visited Cassie must have known I left Brianna with her, and their threats must have been a way to try and get to me. Of course I could see that there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than we knew about, and there's no doubt in my mind that Cassie sees it too. It's hard to ignore a call to action like this, but it's just not right to abandon Brianna. This can only get worse.

However, despite it all, I felt like this was something that I could tackle with a little determination. Sure, my only Pokémon was a pacifist and one of my friends wanted nothing to do with this, but I was still confident in my ability. Of course, I need to respect Cassie's wishes and keep her out of this. I called up Mike, and found out that he was visited and threatened as well. Mike was not as intimated as Cassie was, feeling he worked out enough that he could take them on. I knew him well enough that he probably could. I'm convinced that he's an Ursaring in disguise. He's willing to give both me an Brianna a safe place to stay, promising to help us get to the bottom of this once and for all.

I decided I'd leave Ampharos with Cassie and Jose, despite how Cassie feels about him. I didn't want to get him into harms way, even with his faults I still love him. On our way to Mikes house, I couldn't help but notice how quiet Brianna had been. At a particularly long red light, I decided to implore her as to why. "I don't know how to feel," was her reply, "I just don't know. I miss being a Pokémon, feelings were simpler than they are now."

"That's because you didn't get a chance to grow up. You're getting your turbulent teenage years a few years too late. It happens to all of us a lot sooner than it is for you." Every human has that time of their life where they get confused and try to understand what exactly their feelings are and what they mean. Brianna never got that, she grew up with much more instinctual actions and thoughts. If she wanted something, she'd take it. Being a Pokémon was simple, but it takes being a human to appreciate that simplicity. I guess you don't miss it until it's gone.

"I don't want to 'grow up'!" She pleaded, "I want to just do things. Eat, drink, sleep, and so on. As a human I need to cook, wash my body, wear clothes, use a toilet, find a mate who's feelings are just as complicated as mine. I will never understand why all of these things make you better than a Pokémon."

"They don't," I tried my best to not raise my voice, "the feelings of a Pokémon are no different than those of a human. You showed me that yourself."

Brianna scoffed. "And how did I do that."

"You gave me a berry." Brianna was silent after that. When Brianna showed me that act of kindness, she was showed me empathy. She proved herself that she had the so called human emotions. "It's not about your feelings Brianna, it's about how you express them. Just because we express our love differently, doesn't mean we love differently.

"Then how will I know I love someone, or if they love me?" Ah, the age old question of which there is no answer, Brianna certainly knew how to pick 'em. What is love? I've asked myself that numerous times ever since I was in grade school, and I still don't have an answer. Of course, nobody ever has an answer. I've always been told that I'll know it when I feel it, but I've felt that way about people before. I've loved my exes at some point, I love my mother, I even love my friends. That can't be the same kind of love though, can it? Is love the wrong word? Is it something I should reserve for that special someone? How will I know I'm loving the right person? How will I know when someone loves me?

"Love is a risk," I said after some deliberation, "you pick someone that you know you love and hope they feel the same."

"But how will I know?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Cassandra asked me if I loved you." Of course she did. "And I said I didn't know."

"And then she got angry." She nodded. I knew what happened even if Brianna didn't. Cassie was afraid we were both going to get hurt, thinking we were having a loveless sexual relationship. Maybe she thought I was using Brianna, maybe she though Brianna was using me. Hell, maybe she thought we were using each other. That does, however, bring up an interesting line of thought, does Brianna love me? I know I've asked myself this before, but I have to ask her myself. I need to hear her opinion. "Do you love me?"

Silence. Piercing silence. "I don't know." Was the reply.

I pulled the car over and looked at her. "Is it because you don't know, or because you don't have the words?"

"I... don't know." She was incredibly uncomfortable, her face flushed red. She was trying to make herself look as small as possible, hoping I would stop looking at her. I touched her shoulder and she jumped, but didn't recoil.

"It's okay." I said, trying to be reassuring. "We're going to figure things out and get everything back to normal."

"I don't think I want to go back to normal." She looked at me with big doe eyes, pleading with me. Did she want to stay like this? Wasn't she upset with being human, about all the added caveats of humanity? Shit, even I hate being human some days, what could she possibly get out of this? She's been upset more than anything, what could she possibly be enjoying?

The answer came to me with a kiss.


End file.
